Work Experience - Hoping to work in F1

[DibbleDooDah]

My DD is taking maths, further maths, physics and computer studies at A-level and has dreams of working for a F1 race team. Obviously looking at studying mechanical engineering at university.

She is a total F1 geek. They do Formula 1 In Schools and are hoping to set up a Formula 24 team at her school next year.

She has been looking at work experience or courses - something to do in the holidays - to take her interest further. I thought there might be some special things aimed purely at women getting into the sport but everything she finds online is about female drivers and not engineers.

Most work experience is for people already studying for a degree or placement years.

Anybody know of anything that might fit the bill?

To add that she has found the McLaren one week work experience programme which she is going to apply for but can’t find anything else.

The what I wish I knew about university Facebook group has info on this so worth a look. Alternatively the Smallpiece trust do some courses aimed at women in engineering.

@PaddingtonPaddington Thank you!!

Oxford Brookes uni do a great course for this with lots of hands on experience. They have one of their graduates in every F1 pit crew apparently.

She should look at teams in lower series than F1. They might be more willing to offer work experience.

(Just an idea, no actual knowledge!)

The fees are high but the summer InvestIn Engineering programme includes some F1 visits normally. My son really loved it as an introduction to what engineering looks like. There may still be some places left for this summer.

@YouBetYourBippy She found those but over £2.5k for a week isn’t going to happen.

She also found the Imperial course but she doesn’t fit the criteria for coming from an underrepresented background.

The Smallpiece courses look like the best bet.

Apparently Williams also does a one week work experience placement.

@clarrylove There’s lots of options for university. She only wants to go to one with a Formula Student team - 2022 list here (OB is on it)

https://www.imeche.org/docs/default-source/1-oscar/formula-student/2022/teams/fs2022_fsclass_final.pdf?sfvrsn=2

I did just think, perhaps naively, that there might be some sort of programme specifically aimed at getting more girls into the engineering side of the sport. Most teams only have less than 10% female staff on their race teams and their job roles are skewed more towards PR, advertising and events organisation/ logistics.

You just have to look at the race pits to see how male white dominated it is.

I know of someone who had a weeks work experience earlier this year at mercedes in Nottingham. I'd call them as he was an a level student

group.mercedes-benz.com/careers/pupils/school-work-experience/

Is the FIA's Girls On Track programme still running ?

Which area are you in?

DS did an apprenticeship at Ginetta. That was his foot in the door.

I'd get her to write to all them via instagram, worth a shot!

Home Counties but I am self employed so could theoretically go anywhere and bunk up in a Premier Inn.

I know someone whose daughter (school-age, not university) did a week with a team - I think it was near Oxford. Would that have been one of the ones mentioned already?

Does it have to be with a team? Lots of engineering companies supply to the teams. I worked at one. Maybe look at 1st tier suppliers. I know one the girls who came to do a placement year ended up at an F1 team on graduation.

I'd look up Girls On Track too.
Also it's international women in engineering day this week so there will be a lot of social media posts on how different companies support this, which may give some ideas or contact details.

I did just think, perhaps naively, that there might be some sort of programme specifically aimed at getting more girls into the engineering side of the sport.

There are, but not typically at work experience level, and not typically free. The insurances required tend to mean that's not possible, and a week or two isn't really enough for it to be a worthwhile placement, so it tends to be something that's done either as a degree placement or afterwards.

More useful contacts here:

www.professionalmotorsport-expo.com/en/exhibitor-list.php

There's also an exhibition at the NEC but I can't remember the name

Do OB have grads in the Ferrari team?

Obsessing on F1 is a mistake I think (at the moment). There are many other forms of racing and teams. So be flexible about getting started and career. Many grads won’t get into F1 straight away. The competition can be immense.

Also F1 teams employ 100s. They don’t all go racing! A minority do. The cars are designed and built at the factory. Women in engineering is around 14% of engineers. Women still are not going into engineering in large numbers.

I know two people who designed and raced cars. Their own! Another friend did body panel production for a F1 team and another whose dad bought him a single seater car to race. All were practical engineers with a talent for racing and cars. My friend who did the body manufacturing also had been F1 pit crew for a couple of years and moved into production. They were all involved with cars from a young age. They knew about cars. They went racing and all started as mechanics for small unheralded teams.

So, what I would do is find racing teams who might need a hand . Learn about racing cars. There’s more racing than F1 so go looking for it.

@TizerorFizz I agree entirely on the work experience front, but why shouldn’t she have goals and dreams of F1? It’s not obsessing. It’s what SHE wants to do for HER career.

You wouldn’t tell a bright child not to apply to Oxbridge because the odds of getting in are lower, or encourage them to be a solicitor instead of a barrister. You would help manage expectations and be realistic (which she is entirely) but you don’t shoot down their ambition.

She’s not expecting to walk into an F1 job BUT there are numerous placements as part of engineering degrees at F1 and Formula E teams. Not to mention universities having Formula Student teams. She would much rather be at Bath or Oxford Brookes doing exactly what she wants to do than at Durham with no team and a more general engineering degree.

The main issue we have is that due to the nature of the work there are very few work experience opportunities actually available. Even our local garage won’t accept children for work experience (they do have apprenticeships though.) It’s to do with insurance on under 18s in dangerous environments. The world is very different to when we were doing work experience.

I do have a friend who managed to do his a-level work experience at Jordan (shows how long ago) but he lived near their HQ.
Hes now a car photographer for a career.

I was nodding along to @TizerorFizz as I read her post. I can only imagine that in the future if she's applying to an F1 team it will do her in good stead to demonstrate knowledge and interest at a deeper level than just F1.

@DibbleDooDah I do agree with ambition but you also need realism. Oxbridge is one choice out of five on UCAS. You should apply the same thinking to F1 and motor racing. Definitely go to a uni giving the best chance but look at the true stats. There are very many other avenues in sports automotive engineering and she should look at these too.

I didn’t say go to Durham for general engineering. I don’t see this as an advantage. I’m not a huge fan of general
Engineering at all. However you seem to be saying she knows nothing about racing cars at all. Many other dc will. Yes, F1 is considered the pinnacle but working your way into a job, via other engineering jobs, is still a way in.

Does she ever go racing? Talk to anyone involved in racing? What about cart racing? You seem to be starting at the top of the pyramid instead of the bottom. Work experience will never match a parent being involved in running a racing car and showing Dc how it all works. Dc get involved from a very young age. I would try and replicate this to gain knowledge.

Oh, by the way - DD is a barrister and I’m well aware of aiming high. It’s not higher then a solicitor though. Just different.

She is a junior member of the BRSCC and has been since she was 9. She regularly goes to races and has done for many years. A family member used to work for them and we have exhausted all avenues through contacts there.

She has been to five F1 Grand Prixs and catches Formula E events when they are in the U.K.

She does robotics and Formula 1 in schools. As I mentioned above her school are also hoping to set up a Formula 24 team in September.

She is not interested in driving one bit, but finding somewhere that allows relevant work experience that is a bit more hands on is proving very difficult unless you want to drive.

We live in a terrace house with no garage so there’s no possibility of “daddy” buying her a car to work on or similar, nor do we have the money to get into karting (it’s over £10k a year by the time everything is added in).

I am amazed at the negativity of some of the comments on here. My DD is one of the most grounded, down to earth and realistic people you could ever meet. Perhaps more girls aren’t entering the sport if they are going to get shot down and told to manage their expectations before they have even had a chance.

I asked about work experience and a MASSIVE thanks to all the people who provided some really useful pointers, both F1 related and alternatives.